The bridges of Ontario County: OK, not great

Sunday

Dec 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2007 at 3:58 PM

When it comes to structural integrity, not all of them quite pass muster, according to this year’s reports.

Hilary Smith, staff writer

When a freeway deck-truss bridge collapsed in Minneapolis Aug. 1, killing 13 and injuring more than a hundred, municipalities and transportation departments across the country hurried to take a look at the condition of their own bridges.

No Ontario, Yates or Wayne County deck-truss bridges were included in November’s final report, but two Monroe County bridges received flags. The Route 104 Bay Bridge over Irondequoit Bay received one yellow flag for a crack in a pier stem and one safety flag. The Smith Street bridge over the Genesee River in Rochester received six yellow and five safety flags, for corrosion and missing bolts.

But authorities aren’t just concerned about deck-truss bridges. In fact, the last bridge catastrophe in the state — the April 1987 collapse of a Thruway bridge over Schoharie Creek between Utica and Albany, killing 10 motorists — involved a different design and was the result of spring runoff eating away at bridge pilings.

According to data from the New York State Department of Transportation, there are more than 17,000 bridges in the state, 180 in Ontario County. Of those 180, the county owns and manages 73 — all of which are at least 25 feet in length.

According to County Public Works Commissioner William Wright, a bridge has to be at least 20 feet long in order to be eligible for biannual state inspections and federal support for bridge repair. The county takes ownership of bridges greater than 25 feet, and towns own and manage the smaller spans themselves. State authorities such as the DOT and the state Thruway Authority own and manage bridges on state highways.

Wright says that Ontario County’s bridges are generally in good condition, thanks to an “aggressive” approach to bridge repair in the late 1980s and early 1990s and because the relatively small number of county-owned bridges allows state aid to stretch further. Monroe County, by contrast, manages more than 100 bridges, and Steuben County has more than 400.

Of the 73 Ontario County-owned bridges, four were labeled “structurally deficient,” which by DOT standards means that “significant load-carrying elements are found to be in poor or worse condition due to deterioration or damage, the bridge has inadequate load capacity or repeated bridge flooding causes traffic delays.”

County-owned structurally deficient bridges are located in Cheshire, Farmington, Shortsville and Phelps.

The designation does not mean that the bridges are likely to collapse, Wright emphasized. “They need work, but they’re safe,” he said. According to the NYSDOT, such bridges typically require significant maintenance and repair to remain in service and will eventually need more serious rehabilitation, and they are often posted with vehicle weight limits.

While only four county-owned bridges were found to be structurally deficient, 13 others within the county received the designation. These bridges are owned by the DOT, the state Thruway Authority and the town of Bristol.

In addition to the 17 structurally deficient bridges, 35 were labeled “functionally obsolete” — meaning they don’t meet current standards for managing the volume of traffic they carry. Problems such as low clearances, narrow lanes or no shoulders — rather than structural integrity issues — earn bridges the functionally obsolete designation. Of these 35, only five are county-owned bridges.

Wright says that with good maintenance, a bridge can last 50 years or more.

Inspections information for all New York state bridges can be found at https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/main/bridgedata.

'Structurally deficient' bridges

Here’s a list of the Ontario County bridges that received the lowest overall ratings from the New York State Department of Transportation and were labeled “structurally deficient.” The DOT defines a deficient bridge as one with a condition-rating less than 5 on a 1 to 7 scale, with 7 being a new, flawless bridge.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge over Mud Creek, five miles north of the junction of Routes 64 and 21 in Bristol: received a rating of 2.964.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge over Center Gully Creek in Bristol Center: received a rating of 3.889.

• County-owned bridge over Deuel Gully in Cheshire: received a rating of 3.793.

• County-owned bridge on Allen Padgham Road over Ganargua Creek one mile west of Farmington: received a rating of 4.388.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 4.6 miles east of the junction of Routes 245 and 247 over Flint Creek in Gorham: received a rating of 4.400.

• NYS Thruway Authority-owned bridge 3.9 miles east of I-90 exit 43 in Manchester: received a rating of 4.266.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 1.7 miles northeast of the junction of Routes 245 and 21 over Parish Creek in Naples: received a rating of 3.559.

• NYS Thruway Authority-owned bridge 0.4 miles west of I-90 exit 42 over the Canandaigua Outlet in Phelps: received a rating of 3.953.

• NYS Thruway Authority-owned bridge over the I-90 exit 42 ramp in Phelps: received a rating of 4.453.

• County-owned bridge on North Wayne Street over the Canandaigua Outlet in Phelps: received a rating of 4.403.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge on Route 20A over Honeoye Creek in Richmond: received a rating of 3.982.

• County-owned bridge on Old Mill Road over Flint Creek in Seneca: received a rating of 4.417.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 3.2 miles north of the junction of Routes 64 and 21, South Bristol: received a rating of 3.564.

• Town-owned bridge on Lower Egypt Road over Mud Creek in South Bristol: received a rating of 4.128.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 1.4 miles west of the junction of Routes 96 and 332 over Mud Creek in Victor: received a rating of 4.417.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 2.2 miles west of the junction of Routes 96 and 332 in Victor: received a rating of 4.234.

• NYSDOT-owned bridge 1.1 miles west of the junction of Routes 5 and 65 over Honeoye Creek in West Bloomfield: received a rating of 4.222.

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